Deadliest hurricanes to strike US including ‘Great’ Galveston that ‘killed 12,000’ after Ida hit on Katrina anniversary
HURRICANE Ida hit Louisiana 16 years to the date that Hurricane Katrina killed 1,800 people and devastated New Orleans in August 2005.
But while the devastation was evident, Katrina was not America's deadliest hurricane as up to 12,000 people were killed in 1900 when the storm dubbed "Great" Galveston battered the US.
Around 7,000 buildings were destroyed, including more than 3,500 homes.
And, around 10,000 were left homeless – almost a quarter of the city’s population at the time.
In 1900, there was not the advanced warning equipment that experts use now to track tropical storms.
Forecasters at the Weather Bureau expected the storm to pass over and head towards New England.
Kerry Emanuel, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said: “They were just way off target.”
Researchers estimate that more than 1,500 people were killed in the Caribbean.
The monster storm slammed into Florida on September 16, 1928, as wind speeds reached 150mph.
Officials built the Hoover Dike, which stands at 30 feet high, around Lake Okeechobee following the deadly hurricane and floods.
MIAMI HURRICANE – 1926
The 1926 hurricane killed 372 people and the cost of the damage came close to $100billion.
The storm came at a time when the population of Miami exploded during the "Roaring Twenties."
Journalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas said at the time: “Miami Beach was isolated in a sea of raving white water.”
She produced a record storm surge of about 24 to 28 feet along the Mississippi coast.
The storm was blamed for 1,800 deaths as it caused catastrophic flooding in New Orleans.
It left thousands who had not evacuated the city stranded with little access to food, shelter, or other basic necessities.
The 2005 storm caused $125billion worth of damages in New Orleans.
HURRICANE IDA – 2021
Hurricane Ida has since been downgraded into a tropical storm since it made landfall in Louisiana on August 29.
declared a “major disaster” in the state as meteorologists branded the hurricane as an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm.
The White House is said to be “planning for the worst” as the impacts of become clearer over the coming days and weeks.
LaToya Cantrell, the mayor of New Orleans, announced that the death toll from the storm has officially risen to two after a driver drowned in their vehicle.
On Sunday, a 60-year-old man died when a tree fell on a home just outside Baton Rouge.
Authorities have not released any information about the identities of the victims.
The delta variant has ripped through the state as there are more than 2,400 Covid patients in hospitals in Louisiana.
The total economic damage caused by Ida is expected to fall in the region of $70-80billion.
Louisiana is not the only state to be affected by the strong gusts and torrential downpours of Storm Ida.
At least two people are dead and ten injured after the incident in Lucedale on Monday.
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The flooding caused a 20-foot-deep hole to open up in the highway, according to CNN.